Join us to learn from one of Atlantic Canada’s most experienced communicators. Peter Spurway, Vice President, Corporate Communications & Airport Experience, Halifax International Airport Authority, will share big lessons learned in 45 years of communication.

Is there really such a thing as “off the record”? How do I manage the tenuous relationship between questions and answers? How do I fix a mistake – theirs or mine? If you’ve asked yourself any of these questions, you won’t want to miss this PD session. Drawing on Peter Spurway’s extensive experience, participants will learn through real-life examples and leave feeling more confident in their ability to work under pressure, practice for crises, and find their lane and stick to it.

Mark Ragan, Publisher and CEO of Ragan Communications, Inc.will be leading delegates through a two part workshop on Advanced Writing and Brand Journalism which will include successful Canadian PR experiences and case studies. During this full-day workshop you’ll take part in two sessions, Advanced Writing and Editing and Brand Journalism for Communicators. You’ll leave this workshop with clear outcomes that will change the way you work, help you refresh your skills and ensure your organization remains a leader in communications.

Mark Ragan is the Publisher and CEO of Ragan Communications, Inc., the United State’s leading provider of corporate communication information and training. For 15 years, Mark covered Congress, the White House and national political campaigns for Copley News Service, States News Service, New York Newsday, the San Diego Union-Tribune and Insight Magazine.

Expand your knowledge of the complex, ever changing crisis communications and social media landscape. Told from Theresa Rath Spicer’s perspective, find out what steps Halifax Regional Police took to transform the communications strategy of an organization to empower numerous non-communications/PR personnel to craft messages, deal with media, respond to social media posts and step into the spokesperson role.

In the 24/7 environment we live and work in, it is imperative that communications has “back-up” – a “we can’t do this alone” approach. Find out what risks your organization would collectively and methodically need to take to allow non-communications personnel access to your social media channels.

Need more insight to convince your organization to follow suit? Theresa will share great examples of the risks and rewards resulting from the use of non-traditional vs. traditional tools.

Kick off 2017 by catching up with your communications colleagues. We want to help Halifax’s next generation of PR pros build their network. This speed networking event will match students and professionals in timed conversations to maximize the number of connections you make. At the end of the evening stick around for some informal networking to continue the conversations and learning.

How important is communication in event planning? It means the difference between the life and death of an event. This workshop will show you how to make sure you tick all the boxes on your communications “to do” list.

Enjoy a delicious lunch catered by Pavia while you learn how take your event to the next level with Jane Davies. With 12 years of corporate, public affairs and marketing experience as well as an eight-year adventure as the Vice President of ZedEvents, managing a team responsible for more than 150 successful events for clients from corporate, government, non-profit, Jane’s insight is sure to transform your event communications!

If you’re not working with bloggers to promote your product, service or cause, you’re missing a huge opportunity. According to Research Now, almost 9 in 10 consumers makes purchases after reading about a product or service on a blog. And, consumers aged 18-34 ranked blogs as the most important source of information to make buying decisions.

Do you know how to get bloggers to write about your product, service or cause? Bloggers & PR experts Renée Downs, Kerra AuCoin Mansfield, and Krista Montelpare from Blog Jam, will lead you through how to find bloggers who might like to work with you, how to pitch them and the dos and don’ts of blogger outreach. In the second half of the workshop, we’ll help you apply your newly learned blogger outreach knowledge to devise a blogger relations strategy for your organization, that you can easily implement.

All professional and student CPRS members and potential student members are invited to join us for our first networking event of the season. The Halifax Partnership Connector Team will help you learn how to build a strategy around networking so you can make those face to face connections that count when job hunting. We’ll share some great tips, provide some interactive activities and get you up to practice! Following the Halifax Partnership’s presentation there will be an opportunity to put your newly acquired networking skills and tips to use.

Award and Scholarship Presentations
At the AGM, CPRS-NS will present the inaugural Nova Scotia Communicator of the Year award. Len Canfield’s 50 years of participation in CPRS will also be honoured with a Certificate of Recognition and the annual CPRS-NS student scholarship will be awarded.

Agenda

5:00 – Networking

5:30 – Opening remarks

5:35 – Scholarship presentation

5:40 – Len Canfield 50 year presentation

5:50 – Communicator of the Year

6:00 – AGM business

6:30 – Wrap up

Nominations
We are looking for members to serve on the board of CPRS-NS for the coming board year. Board involvement is a rewarding way to help advance the public relations and communications profession in our area. The board meets once monthly except June-August to plan and oversee membership, scholarships and awards, accreditation, professional development and social events, chapter finances, budget and operations, web and social media content, liaison with post-secondary PR programs, faculties and students, other member benefits, and more!

Any full member in good standing of CPRS-NS is eligible to serve as Director. If you or someone you know wishes to be nominated please contact the Chair of the Nominating Committee, CPRS-NS Past-President, Dan Bedell dan.bedell@redcross.ca for more information. The nominating deadline is Thursday, May 4, 2016.

We hope to see you on May 17!

*POSTPONED*

Police PR: the Realities, the Pressures and the Challenges

Eat, Meet and Greet!

Who: All professional and student CPRS members (and potential student members, too!)

Learn about a new and innovative method of measuring the direction and flow of communication within social media. Visual mapping of two way communication in social media will allow public relations practitioners to better integrate and measure the impact of two-way communication. The presentation will feature a visual toolkit that will allow public relations professionals to see a flow of communication through a visual representation, providing insights into the nature of the two-way relationship represented in social media usage.

CPRS members and student members are welcome! There is a room limit of 34 so please RSVP immediately to pbrownlow@ns.sympatico.ca

Parking – If you’re driving, in your RSVP, please include your permission for us to provide MSVU with your email address, so they can email you an electronic parking pass.

Annual Holiday Social

Join CPRS-NS for some holiday cheer and networking at our annual holiday social on Monday December 7, 2015. Eat, drink and be merry as you reconnect with old friends and meet new members.

Drop in at your convenience between 4 and 7 p.m. to the Old Triangle (third floor), 5136 Prince St., Halifax.